If you're in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo or Nagoya right now, you can catch the original Ghost in the Shell on the big screen—sort of. Bandai Visual has gone all George Lucas over the 1995 Mamoru Oshii classic, updating the digital effects and reuniting the original voice cast for a 6.1 surround-sound recording. (I'm curious to see if the extra effort is as superfluous as in the Star Wars makeovers; so far as I'm concerned, the CG in Ghost in the Shell is still quite watchable.) Check the trailer below for a glimpse of the new look.



Gotta-get-it-first otaku can score the Ghost in the Shell 2.0 Blu-ray box set from Japanese distributors on December 19. The set includes 1080p and MPEG-4 AVC versions of the film (English dubs included), an extras disc, a new music CD, and of course a nifty new booklet.

[Thanks, Crunchgear.]

Labels: anime, Blu-ray, Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii

They pretty much have me hooked until the dialogue at the end. Felicity just doesn't sound like an ass-kicking Amazon to me...

Click the image to pop over to Yahoo Movies and watch the trailer.

Previously on fps:
Wonder Woman Animation Director, Lauren Montgomery's Blog

Labels: Blu-ray, DC Comics, DVD, Wonder Woman

Disney: Blu-ray Sale at Amazon.com!

It appears that Amazon.com is ready to blow out some Disney and Pixar Blu-ray discs! In addition to a slew of live action titles, the online retailer is offering these animated films at a discount:

- Not only was this one of the best animated films to come out in ages, but it's also one of the most incredible Blu-ray discs you'll ever pick up. With reference quality video and audio and a veritable smorgasbord of extras, the Ratatouille Blu-ray disc is a must own! And at 40% off how can you resist the chance to show off your gear and prove to your spouse that you truly did need the high-def upgrade to your living room!

- While Cars didn't bowl me over the way other Pixar films have (What's with the shitty character design, Lasseter?) it's a solid effort that's fit for the whole family. The quality of the Blu-ray disc, on the other hand, is beyond reproach. Once again Disney has crafted a near perfect sensory experience, hampered only by some hinky menu design. Want to show off your system? The Cars Blu-ray will most certainly get the job done.

- This is an incredible collection of short animated films and we should count ourselves among the fortunate that Disney was kind enough to master a Blu-ray disc that affords them the finest, most vibrant and detailed presentation to date. While the overall quality is over the top, you'll notice that the older shorts, transfered from a film source (as opposed to the digital-to-digital transfers Pixar is known for) suffer slightly from softer, less-than-perfect video and uneven audio. I'm not grousing. I'm just saying...

Find more animated films like Meet the Robinsons and Dinosaur at the Disney Blu-ray Sale page.

Labels: Blu-ray, Cars, John Lasseter, Pixar, Ratatouille

If you haven't heard about the new Wonder Woman animated film, then you clearly haven't picked up the fantastic Batman: Gotham Knight DVD or Blu-ray and fired up the sneak peek included as one of the multitudinous special features. Lauren Montgomery (Ben 10, Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes) is the lady in the captain's chair of the upcoming DTV feature, sharing credit for the updated design of DC Comics' amazon princess with Mister Animated Super-Hero, Bruce Timm.

Check out her blog, This Sucks for some production and design insights, along with some fantastic art.

Via ComicsToFilm.com

Previously on fps:
Batman: Gotham Knight

Labels: Batman, Ben 10, Blu-ray, Bruce TImm, DC Comics, DVD, Justice League, Legion of Super Heroes, OAVs, Wonder Woman

Home Media Magazine makes it sound like the bell has tolled for Anime on home video in North America. Their visit to the Anime Expo, July 3-6 at the Los Angeles Convention Center found them confronted by a veritable ghost-town of Anime vendors on the convention floor.

"While ADV’s set-up was bare bones, anime powerhouse VIZ Media wasn’t on the show floor at all. Neither was The Right Stuff International. All three companies held panels to discuss their plans for the rest of the year and beyond, but their absence from the show floor was reflective of the slow-down of domestic anime DVD."

Yikes!

Bandai, home of popular titles like Dragonball-Z and Naruto is prepared to fight the decline in sales tooth-and-nail by appealing to average otaku with video downloads and anime cinephiles with high-def Blu-ray releases. The company's first Blu-ray effort will be Mamoru Oshii's, Ghost in the Shell: Innocence. Bandai has committed to a brand-new English dub and support materials for the domestic release. If you can't wait for domestic, the Japanese disc will happily play in your PS3.

via Home Media Magazine

Further Reading:
DVDTalk.com reviews the Japanese Innocence Blu-ray

Labels: advertising, anime, Anime Expo, Bandai, Blu-ray, Dragonball-Z, DVD, Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, Naruto, The Right Stuff International, VIZ Media

Well, what do you know? Looks like Britain loves Pixar more than Keira Knightley after all. Variety is reporting that despite the recent economic downturn, Her Majesty's loyal subjects have been shelling out for home entertainment discs in record amounts, with Ratatouille trouncing Atonement as the biggest seller to date.

“History has shown that in times of economic hardship, consumers find even more value in home entertainment when the leisure pound is stretched as it is,” commented Lavinia Carey, director general, BVA.

“As video is one of the most cost-effective forms of entertainment we would expect to see continued volume growth in our market as consumers tighten their belts in response to increasing economic uncertainty,” she added.

It seems, according to the article that the Blu-ray format has a lot to do with the recent gains in the market, citing a 506% growth, year to date.

via Variety.com

Labels: Blu-ray, DVD, Pixar, Ratatouille, United Kingdom

Back when DVDs were new—you know, all of ten years ago—I decided that I wasn't going to bother spending the money on a DVD player until three particular titles that I wanted to see became available. It took a few years for it to happen, but eventually the titles came out and I spent just under $1200 on what was then the ideal player.

I recently decided that I would compile a similar list of ten high-definition discs and post about it here. My list is still incomplete, but yesterday I happened on a list of HD DVD and Blu-ray titles due to come out in Japan this year... and three of my must-haves are on the list! It looks like it's going to be an expensive 2007.

The list I came across is specifically of classics: Akira, Wings of Honneamise, Ghost in the Shell, things like that. (Steamboy is also on the list; make of that what you will.) Further examination reveals that Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence is already out in Blu-ray, and the Japanese Art of Disney Blu-ray disc, with English-language audio and subtitles, is due in April. Doubly sweet is that unlike DVD, HD DVD has no region encoding (yet), and in the Blu-ray spec North America and Japan share the same region.

I started adding domestic high-definition releases to our upcoming releases listings a few months ago; as of this week, you'll find foreign releases as well, with links to YesAsia and other stores.

Labels: anime, Blu-ray, HD DVD